eduk
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Since the forum is slow I thought I'd ramble on about how I have stumbled into Fuji, the camera, not the country. It may be useful to others on the same path, but probably not. Grab a drink....
I had always fancied the X100 due to its APS-C sensor, rangefinder look, compactness, buttons/dials, EVF and excellent jpeg output, with in-camera control of RAW conversion. I took a punt on a minty X100T from London Camera Exchange and it really is an excellent camera. After a few weeks I realised that I wanted to ditch my Sony dSLR kit but the X100T didn't match my style of shooting to do that.
The fixed 23mm f2 wide open is sharp at distance, but for close head shots it was too soft in the eyes at f2 for my liking. I added the TCL-X100 teleconverter to bring it up to a 33mm (50mm FF) but still found that I was heavily cropping. The TCL-X100 is a bit clunky to screw on too.
I still wanted a X100 style camera and looked at the 24mpix X100F, matching my Sony A77 for cropping potential. The lens is the same as the X100T though, but the TCL-X100 can be used. Perhaps standing further back and using the 24mpix for cropping would fix things with it being soft close-up.
However some reviews mentioned a Fuji camera that is ignored, the recently discontinued X-E3. Looking at the specs it is VERY similar to the 24mpix X100F I was about to trade up to. Mount the Fuji 27mm f2.8 pancake on it and you have something similar in size to the X100F.
The 27mm gives me a more useful focal length sitting between the X100 23mm and the 33mm you get on the X100 with teleconverter attached. I can live with f2.8 for everyday shooting out and about.
Deciding on the X-E3/27mm combo I now had the option of adding a second lens for portraits. The obvious choice being the fairly compact Fuji 50mm f2. Cheap, light, fast AF, sharp at f2, the resolution charts are amazing. But I wanted something to replace my Sigma 50mm f1.4 and while the Fuji 50mm f2 is nice and sharp, the Fuji 56mm f1.2 is sharp and the bokeh lovely!
Second-hand there is quite a leap from the 50mm f2 to 56mm f1.2 (duh!) and for a time I was really tempted to stick a second-hand one onto my credit card just for that lovely f1.2 bokeh It's obviously larger and heavier than the 50mm f2, but I want compactness when using just the 27mm pancake not a 50/56mm, so no worries there.
Then I came across a comparison with a Chinese make, Viltrox. At first I ignored them, thinking it will be the usual Chinese manual focus lenses you get on the Sony mount. Well that was a mistake! I was blown away with comparisons between the new Viltrox 56mm f1.4 and the Fuji 56mm f1.2 as it nearly matches it at f1.4.
A new Viltrox 56mm f1.4 is only 300 quid from Amazon. It is cheaper than a second-hand Fuji 50mm f2 and way cheaper than a second-hand 56mm f1.2. Better still, Viltrox have reverse engineered the X mount and stuck a fast silent AF motor in it. There is a USB port for firmware updates.
Today I have traded in the X100T/TCL-X100 combo and purchased a new X-E3 with new 27mm f2.8 (similar price of a second-hand X100F from the shop) then I've bagged the Viltrox 56mm f1.4 on Amazon. Hopefully all in time for the weekend fun.
I am also looking at the Fotodiox AF-FX adapter for adapting my Minolta 100mm f2.8 macro to X mount. I did consider doing that for the Sigma 50mm f1.4 and my other Sony lenses but I want AF and then cash from selling my Sony gear.
As I said the X100 series are excellent, just not for me when I can have the X-E3. There is one last personal irritation about the X100 series vs X-E3, the EVF dioptre range. Bizarrely the X100 models have a smaller dioptre adjustment range than other Fuji models. The EVF was slightly blurred as a result when shooting without glasses. The X-E3 appears to has the range I need, so hopefully no blurry EVF. A small thing, but it did bug me when shooting with the X100T.
I had always fancied the X100 due to its APS-C sensor, rangefinder look, compactness, buttons/dials, EVF and excellent jpeg output, with in-camera control of RAW conversion. I took a punt on a minty X100T from London Camera Exchange and it really is an excellent camera. After a few weeks I realised that I wanted to ditch my Sony dSLR kit but the X100T didn't match my style of shooting to do that.
The fixed 23mm f2 wide open is sharp at distance, but for close head shots it was too soft in the eyes at f2 for my liking. I added the TCL-X100 teleconverter to bring it up to a 33mm (50mm FF) but still found that I was heavily cropping. The TCL-X100 is a bit clunky to screw on too.
I still wanted a X100 style camera and looked at the 24mpix X100F, matching my Sony A77 for cropping potential. The lens is the same as the X100T though, but the TCL-X100 can be used. Perhaps standing further back and using the 24mpix for cropping would fix things with it being soft close-up.
However some reviews mentioned a Fuji camera that is ignored, the recently discontinued X-E3. Looking at the specs it is VERY similar to the 24mpix X100F I was about to trade up to. Mount the Fuji 27mm f2.8 pancake on it and you have something similar in size to the X100F.
The 27mm gives me a more useful focal length sitting between the X100 23mm and the 33mm you get on the X100 with teleconverter attached. I can live with f2.8 for everyday shooting out and about.
Deciding on the X-E3/27mm combo I now had the option of adding a second lens for portraits. The obvious choice being the fairly compact Fuji 50mm f2. Cheap, light, fast AF, sharp at f2, the resolution charts are amazing. But I wanted something to replace my Sigma 50mm f1.4 and while the Fuji 50mm f2 is nice and sharp, the Fuji 56mm f1.2 is sharp and the bokeh lovely!
Second-hand there is quite a leap from the 50mm f2 to 56mm f1.2 (duh!) and for a time I was really tempted to stick a second-hand one onto my credit card just for that lovely f1.2 bokeh It's obviously larger and heavier than the 50mm f2, but I want compactness when using just the 27mm pancake not a 50/56mm, so no worries there.
Then I came across a comparison with a Chinese make, Viltrox. At first I ignored them, thinking it will be the usual Chinese manual focus lenses you get on the Sony mount. Well that was a mistake! I was blown away with comparisons between the new Viltrox 56mm f1.4 and the Fuji 56mm f1.2 as it nearly matches it at f1.4.
A new Viltrox 56mm f1.4 is only 300 quid from Amazon. It is cheaper than a second-hand Fuji 50mm f2 and way cheaper than a second-hand 56mm f1.2. Better still, Viltrox have reverse engineered the X mount and stuck a fast silent AF motor in it. There is a USB port for firmware updates.
Today I have traded in the X100T/TCL-X100 combo and purchased a new X-E3 with new 27mm f2.8 (similar price of a second-hand X100F from the shop) then I've bagged the Viltrox 56mm f1.4 on Amazon. Hopefully all in time for the weekend fun.
I am also looking at the Fotodiox AF-FX adapter for adapting my Minolta 100mm f2.8 macro to X mount. I did consider doing that for the Sigma 50mm f1.4 and my other Sony lenses but I want AF and then cash from selling my Sony gear.
As I said the X100 series are excellent, just not for me when I can have the X-E3. There is one last personal irritation about the X100 series vs X-E3, the EVF dioptre range. Bizarrely the X100 models have a smaller dioptre adjustment range than other Fuji models. The EVF was slightly blurred as a result when shooting without glasses. The X-E3 appears to has the range I need, so hopefully no blurry EVF. A small thing, but it did bug me when shooting with the X100T.